Pro-grandparents?

[LASur5r]

I'm just curious here as to who had a grandparent who helped raise you around guns?
I had a grandpa who had a little farm...we were off the beaten path and so a lot of feral animals came in the night to steal a chicken or two or kill his pups or kittens.
I remember one night, I was sleeping over, when he woke me and he told me he needed my help...without another word, he handed me a flashlight and he pulled out his Higgins .22, bolt action rifle. We went out the back porch and saw a big tomcat just swing a paw at one of grandpa's favorite cats....it's lifeless body fell into the river.
My grandpa asked me to hold the light on the tomcat. He dispatched that big tom in one shot. We had other nights like that one. Then one night he asked me to take care of this wild dog with his rifle. I was scared but proud that I helped my grandpa that night.
The next day he handed me a hand carved rifle. (Shaped after a M1 Garand) and asked me to help guard the farm and to learn this I had to learn to stalk the farm animals. So off I went with my shiny new handcarved wooden rifle.

Anybody else care to share?

 

[wingnutx]

Yes

I am generally pro-grandparents.

 

[ksnecktieman]

My parents were anti,,,,,,, without grandpa I do not think I could have made it to being pro gun. Thank you grandpa. I think I am a better man because of your influence, and I am sure that I am alive today because you taught me how to survive.

 

[labgrade]

I've six, count 'em, 6 grandkids. & they all get the necessary attention that they can - regardless of some of their ninny-parents.

Yup, good gran-pa

Never even knew my own, my Dad & Father, taught me well enough I'd say.

 

[Feanaro]

My grand-father is highly pro-gun, although he hasn't fired more then three shots in the past ten or so years. Old man can still shoot at 70+ though, he made some steel targets sign with my M48A. Grand-mother is a little more left leaning but she is pretty pro-gun.

 

[WonderNine]

My mother is left of Stalin and my father is to the right of Attila. The kicker is my mother is much more religious and always has been. They've been divorced since I was 10. My mother is totally against me carrying a gun and always says that "only drug dealers carry guns", but lately she doesn't seem to bring up the subject much since there was a triple homocide two houses up from her a couple months ago.....while my father has never even quized me on the subject, but he's very pro-gun rights and pro-self defense. And I'm pretty sure he knows I carry a CCW piece though the subject never comes up..... I think I got my father into guns more than he got me into them and I'm working on my mother.... She seems to be more receptive lately since I've won all the latest political arguements with her

Don't talk to my grandparents much on either side, maybe once or twice a year....I haven't talked to my grandparents on my mother's side in 3 years actually....my grandfather on my father's side died 3 years before I was born.

I was never really "raised" around guns, I have just always been interested in self defense, the mechanics of how guns work and the beauty of fine firearms. I guess I'm a science/power junky and a sucker for a pretty face.

Been carrying concealed weapons since I was in kindergarten.....some people just never change!

 

[tailgunner]

I am from rural southeast Kansas, we lived so far out in the country we had to come to town to hunt. My Grandfathers and Great-Grandfathers all used guns as tools. I started shooting very young, at about 5 or 6 I remember my Dads father letting me rest the heavy Mossberg .22 with a full manlicher stock on his shoulder to shoot hedge apples. I carried that rifle without a clip until I was 12. Got the clip and lost it the first day! I was blessed with very involved and supportive Grandparents. I did not know that anti-gunners were even a species until my 20's.

 

[GD]

My side of the family is pretty anti-gun. My wife's side lives in Western Kansas is is very pro-gun. When I announced my plans to marry my wife, her father and grandfather got on me for not having a firearm to protect my wife. So out I went and got a .22. They were not impressed. My next purchase was a .357 Magnum.
A home invasion in which my parents just cowered in their bedroom while someone went through their house is still not enough to convince my Dad to get a firearm - they think I am crazy for owning one. I tell Dad that he must not care enough about my mom to protect her - much like my in-laws insisted that I protect my wife.

 

[cracked butt]

My grandfather, a WWII vet, used to take me duck hunting when I was a kid. He had a big display case in his den to show off his win model 12 shotguns and service revolvers.
His bookshelf was full of books about gunfighters, outlaws, and the Old West.
I'd say he was pretty much Pro-gun.

 

[El Tejon]

I first went shooting on my great-grandfather's farm.

 

[trooper]

Hmm... my first contact with guns was when I got to shoot grandpa's BB gun in the basement

Grandpa eventually worried about burglars and one day went out and bought a CS gas gun. He is a WW2 veteran and I think if he had been allowed he would have bought some more serious hardware.

My parents are anti-leaning fence-sitters but I'm in the process of converting most of my family

Well, except for my younger brother who is a self-proclaimed communist...


Regards,

Trooper

 

[ACP230]

I didn't know my grandfather on Mom's side owned guns when I was a kid. Found out later he had an old 12 gauge single-shot shotgun and a Spanish copy of a Smith .38 Special.

I did know he liked TV Westerns, since I sat on the couch and watched them with him for hours. Those old TV shows, and granpa got me interested in guns.

I got his shotgun later and used it to hunt deer and birds for a few years. It's over 100 years old now, a wallhanger, and belongs to my oldest son who has my grandfather's name. The revolver may be owned by my some cousins in California now. I tried to get it back after my uncle died but there was friction between Mom and my uncle's wife and I got no reply to my request.

Grandpa is the reason I'm a trout fisherman today too. He was a trout fanatic extrordinaire.

 

[DorGunR]

I'm 71 YO now and my Grandfather taught me to hunt. He died in 1976 at the age of 89. His double SxS 12ga, external hammers shotgun that was supposed to be mine was grabbed by a cousin, as I was in Korea when Grandpa died.